A coworker of Husband’s told us about this event a while ago and ever since finding out about it, I’ve been keeping watch for the next LA date. The minute tickets went on sale, I snatched up VIP ones and counted down to June 6th. Taste of a Nation is an event that occurs in different cities at different times of the year. Chefs in that locale get together and offer up tastings of various items, all in the name of ending childhood hunger in America via the Share Our Strength charity organization. Tickets for the LA event aren’t cheap but you get access to an amazing event AND, even better, you help out a great cause.

Media Park in Culver City

The Taste of a Nation LA event was held in Culver City’s Media Park, a perfect location with trees for shade in some areas and easy access parking. VIP tickets included free valet parking. It was awfully nice of the organizers not to oversell capacity; there were a lot of attendees but the park was never uncomfortably crowded, nor were there ever any insane lines to get to the food. I think the only complaint I had that day was about the amount of sun I got. I need to remember a hat next year and sunscreen. *ouch ouch sunburned cheeks*

Husband and I were there with a couple of other foodie friends and we attempted to sample everything but failed. Still, we managed to try some amazing bites like the beef cheeks from XIV, Public’s sliders on brioche and duck and foie gras sausage, The Foundry’s grilled cheese sandwich and Street’s Burmese Melon Salad. I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

Watermelon gazpacho shots by Bazaar (Jose Andres)

Liquid nitrogen magic!

The AMAZING beef cheeks with a corn foam courtesy of XIV (Michael Mina)

Salted caramel gelato from Gelato Bar...perfect for the warm day (Joel Gutman/Gail Silverton)

That’s but just a taste of what was offered. Most of it was amazing though there were a few dishes that were too salty for me or just didn’t really win me over for one reason or another.

Chef Michael Voltaggio demo-ing how to make a pasta dinner

Liquid nitro man

There was a cooking demo by Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio. If you watched the show, you know that he does some amazing but complex dishes. For his demo, instead of doing something that seems like it requires years of culinary expertise, he kept it simple and showed how to make a meal for 8 from a few simple ingredients, something that resonated with the theme of the event. But for dessert, he whipped out the liquid nitrogen and made churros. That was pretty awesome. 🙂 I had the chance to meet him and he was quite nice. He also showed off his new tattoo – the Taste of the Nation logo…

Wait, are they auctioning off LudoBites or Chef Ludo?

Part of the event is a silent auction where people can bid on various items like gift baskets or trips. There was also a live auction to bid on catering services by various chefs. Chef Ludo Lefebvre offered up his Ludobites Truck and Chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken auctioned off their Border Grill truck for private parties. I have to say, Chef Feniger is just awesomely energetic and enthusiastic, and it was a lot of fun watching her jump on stage and encourage the bidders. I think she’s my new chef crush… Her passion is infectious.

There was also a little “carnival” section where you could trade in tickets to make use of the mobile photobooth truck or attempt to win restaurant gift certificates via a culinary trivia game. I tried my hand at the trivia three times and managed to win three times! 🙂 Wooo…an 8oz Burger and 2 Fraiche gift certs! I have to say though, some of those questions were challenging…

All in all, this was really a fabulous event and even Husband enjoyed himself. I think the free booze won him over. He did say though that he felt like a vegan at a BBQ since there wasn’t much that he could eat due to most items having some sort of fruit or vegetable in it. *roll eyes*

We both swore that we will try to make this event every year. We had a lot of fun and got to support a worthwhile cause. We also want to win one of those live auctions…time to save up a few thousand dollars! 🙂

Last week, Husband and I, along with a couple of other friends got to attend the Cinco De Mayo celebration hosted by Food Network Magazine at The Spanish Kitchen. Chef Aaron Sanchez (Chefs vs. City, Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate) was on hand and free margaritas and food flowed.

Since we got there a little early, we crossed the street to have a drink at The Belmont. When 7pm rolled around, we headed back.

The Spanish Kitchen was a cute space, decorated with a lot of rod iron and tile. The split level floor plan nicely separated the bar area from the dining room and there was a small patio with tables as well.

Time to get drinking!

First up, margaritas. There were several offerings: Palomino, passionfruit, pineapple-chili and jalapeño. Since there were four of us, we each got a different one. I opted for the Passionfruit. Not bad… I tried the pineapple-chili as well. I liked this one better. The sweet with the spicy coupled with the acidity of the fruit made for a nice combination.

Freshly made guacamole

We grabbed a table and helped ourselves to the chips and salsa bar. There was also guacamole so I took a heaping spoonful since I LOOOOVE the stuff. Fresh, chunky, really good! Appetizers were also being passed around by waiters. We tried a shrimp with green sauce, fried artichoke and this potato-olive thing. The shrimp was perfectly good but I wish I could taste the sauce more. The fried artichoke was nice, lightly breaded, not overly greasy. The potato hors d’oeuvre was okay but very briny. Not a fan, though.

Barbacoa slider, tacos, tamale, chile rellano (clockwise from top)

Chef Aaron Sanchez took the mike and welcomed everyone and then the buffet opened. Chile rellanos, tamales, beef tacos and barbacoa sliders were on the menu. I didn’t think the rellanos were that great. I liked the tamales which were on the sweet side, though the rest of my group were so-so about it. The beef tacos weren’t disappointing but they weren’t mind-blowing either. The sliders were really good though. Moist, great flavor and served with a slaw for crunch, we all went back for more of these (except Husband who ended up eating chips for most of the night since all the food was “tainted” by vegetables). I think we were also fairly drunk at this point, too, thanks to the free margaritas. Oy!

Tres Leches cake

Dessert came around, served by waiters. There was a cup with a chocolate and vanilla pudding mix, topped with Chambord and served with a chocolate-dipped cookie. Everyone else at the table loved this but I thought it was just okay. I really fell in love with the other dessert, the tres leches cake. It was dense, super-moist and just sooooo yummy. I couldn’t stop eating it even though I was about to burst.

Chef Sanchez chatting with D

Chef Sanchez was going around saying hi to the guests and stopped at our table and chatted with us for a bit. We all exchanged stories about how we met our significant others. He was a really cool guy, funny and amiable. 🙂 Later, when I read a wiki to find out more about him and his culinary history, I found out that he competed on Iron Chef Season 2 against Chef Morimoto and TIED. Massive kudos as I think Morimoto is the supreme Iron Chef and always seems to blow his competition out of the water.

When we left, we were handed goodie bags that included a copy of May’s issue of Food Network Magazine. Turns out, all the food and margaritas were recipes featured in the magazine! I can make those sliders and that tres leches cake at home!!